Sermon Tone Analysis

Title: From the Frying Pan to the Fire

Text:

Occasion: Pillar Sunday Pulpit 10.13.19

Thesis: Divine Providence in the life of Paul is illustrated for us that we might trust more in God.

Prayer of Illumination:

Our Father,

You are the the God of Heaven and Earth.

Heaven is Your Throne and the earth is Your footstool.

Give us then a humble heart, a contrite spirit, a heart that trembles at Your Word.

What we know what, teach us, what we have not, give us, what we are not, make us, for the sake of Jesus we ask, Amen.

Introduction:

John Gill, a British theologian of a generation past, has reminded us that God’s sovereignty is seen in His control of men and events.

Scripture teaches us, “He does according to His will in the host of Heaven and among the inhabitants of earth; and no one can stay His hand or say to Him, ‘What have you done?’ ” ()

Say it another way, Providence is the name given to the doctrine that the Sovereign God exercises an absolute control over everything that happens in this world, from the greatest events to the smallest details, all with a view to bringing his plans and purposes to pass.

Illustrations of this principle of Divine Providence are to be found throughout history.

John Bunyan, for example, was drafted as a soldier in the civil war in England and was sent to take part in the siege of Leicester [Lestar].

As he was about to begin sentry duty one night, another requested that they exchange responsibilities.

Bunyan agreed.

That night the other soldier was shot in the head and died.

Bunyan was spared so that in the providence of God he might minister through the written word to generations to come.

Christopher Columbus felt greatly disheartened and discouraged after many attempts to obtain financing for a trip to India.

While on his way back to Italy he stopped one day at a convent not far from Granada and asked for a drink of water.

The monk who gave him the water and heard his story was the man who intervened on his behalf with Queen Isabella.

Out of that request for a glass of water came the money to equip the vessels that ultimately crossed the Atlantic—that request led to the discovery of America.

One day when Abraham Lincoln was rummaging through a barrel of old stuff, he came across a copy of Lord Blackstone’s Commentaries (on British jurisprudence).

This “chance” discovery awakened his interest in law and human rights.

As a result he ran for political office and eventually played a decisive role in the history of our country.

George Whitefield was employed by his brother in the Bell Inn but could not get along with his brother’s wife, so he gave up his job and went to Bristol.

Then step by step he went to Oxford, met with the Wesleys, and developed a ministry that touched countless thousands of lives on both sides of the Atlantic.

Whitefield was perhaps the greatest preacher of his time.

At thirty-two years of age William Cowper faced a great crisis.

Tired of the struggle, he decided to take his own life.

He took an overdose of laudanum, but this suicide attempt failed.

Then he tried to drown himself in the Thames river, but he was prevented from doing so.

The next morning he deliberately tried to pierce himself on a knife, but the blade broke and he was only slightly injured.

Then he tried to hang himself—and almost succeeded.

Someone found him unconscious and cut him down.

In despair he began reading Paul’s letter to the Romans and received strength to believe that God loved him.

Later he wrote:

God moves in a mysterious way

His wonders to perform;

He plants His footsteps in the sea

And rides upon the storm.

Deep in unfathomable mines

Of never-failing skill,

He treasures up His bright designs,

And works His sov’reign will.

Cowper become one of the great hymn writers of all times, hymns we love to sing even today.

These seemingly chance contacts and events have literally altered the course of history.

There is nothing here in our passage that directly teaches us of divine providence.

It is simply illustrated for us.

But what a fascinating illustration this is of divine providence.

This story is given to us in order to strengthen our faith, and in order to increase our trust in God.

We derive encouragement from this story since it underscores God’s involvement in the seemingly little things in our lives

As Dr. F. B. Meyer wrote, “All these things, if carefully observed, yield their testimony and assurance that God is in all events permitting, directing, controlling, and causing all things to work out His perfect plan.”

To use Paul’s famous words he wrote in Romans, “God works all things for good, to those who love him, to those who are the called according to his purpose.”

What we see here is that Paul not only confirmed this truth in his writing, but also in his living.

Let’s recall the situation Paul is facing in our passage.

It all started from Paul’s determination and resolve to travel to Jerusalem.

, Paul says, “And now, behold, bound by the Spirit, I am on my way to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there, except that the Holy Spirit solemnly testifies to me in every city, saying that bonds and afflictions await me.”

Paul would discover how true that is as he is literally in chains as a prisoner before his Jewish brethren, offering his defense, personal testimony of what Christ has done for him.

Like Stephen, Paul had been falsely accused of blasphemy, of preaching against the Law and the Temple and Paul then offered up his defense.

Paul didn’t even get to finish his speech because we see in chapter 22, once Paul said the detested G-Word, Gentiles, it says in v. 22, “They listened to him up to this point,” the Authorized Version says it this way, “They gave him audience unto this Word,” “and then lifted up their voices, and said, Away with such a fellow from the earth: for it is not fit that he should live.”

The commander, still unsure why Paul is the target of such outrage, takes him and was about to examine him by scourging.

The Roman scourging is designed to inflict a great deal of pain and physical damage to the back.

One scholar describes the painful process of scourging this way: “While it sometimes consisted of a handle on which were fixed leather straps, it was often an instrument of brutal innovation.

The lashes could be knotted cords or wire having bristled ends or be strung with knucklebones and lead pellets.

This method of interrogation, though never overtly construed as punitive, could nevertheless result in crippling or even death before the truth had been arrived at.”

As the soldiers were stretching out Paul with thongs about his wrists to secure him for scourging, we wonder, “will he survive?

Will God’s plans be thwarted by such aggression?”

At this point, Paul reveals his Roman citizenship to the centurion and averts the terrible ordeal he is about to face.

The Roman orator Cicero exclaimed, “To bind a Roman is a crime, to flog him is an abomination, to slay him is almost an act of murder”

So the soldiers “quickly withdrew,” and the commander was “frightened,” because of what he had done.

But this ordeal is far from over, because what we see in chapter 23 is that Paul goes from the frying pan into the fire.

Paul barely managed to escape one hostile situation before entering another.

And in v. 30 we read, “But on the next day, wishing to know for certain why he had been accused by the Jews, he (that is, the commander) released him and ordered the chief priests and all the Council to assemble, and brought Paul down and set him before them.”

The commander doesn’t understand exactly why, but he’s going to try again to find answers as Paul comes before the Sanhedrin.

As Paul is before the Sanhedrin, the tension of the story builds and the plot thickens, the question is raised, “will Paul survive Jerusalem and finally make it to Rome?” (Repeat)

This is the question that dominates the landscape of the rest of Acts.

As we work through this passage, I want to divide the text by the various characters involved and how God ultimately used these human characters to serve His purposes and deliver his servant from danger.

1.

The Council

First, there is the Council, the Sanhedrin, the ruling body of the Jews whom Paul was now facing.

Paul began by taking a long look at the Sanhedrin, v. 1, states, “Paul, looking intently at the Council.”

Paul knew some of these men.

Even if Paul had not been a member of the Sanhedrin, he had friends in those high places.

You could imagine the twinge of recognition as Paul gazed around the room and locked eyes with some of them.

And he said, “Brethren, I have lived my life with a perfectly good conscience before God up to this day.”

In other words, Paul is implying that there is no possible ground of complaint against him.

This reason for this meeting is pointless, because I haven’t done anything wrong.

The high priest took offense to this and commands that Paul be slapped across the mouth.

That was a very degrading form of insult to an Israelite.

The law commanded that no Israelites should ever struck in the face.

Let me also say, we Gentiles, don’t appreciate getting slapped very much either.

So Paul responds sharply back, “God is going to strike you, you whitewashed wall!

Do you sit to try me according to the Law, and in violation of the Law order me to be struck?””

The Jews painted their tombs white as a warning, because to touch a tomb brought defilement.

Paul was saying that Ananias, though he appeared good and righteous on the outside, was full of decaying filth.

So Paul is calling him a stinking hypocrite.

Probably, not the best way to start his address to the Council.

Paul’s stabbing words naturally brought an immediate response.